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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Friday, November 13, 2015

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.
And I Quote ...!
 
Carolina Naturally is read in 205 countries around the world daily.   
  
So True... !

Today is - World Kindness Day

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Today in History

1474
In the Swiss-Burgundian Wars, Swiss infantry shatters the army of Charles the Bold at Hericourt near Belfort, countering his march to Lorraine.
1835
Texans officially proclaim independence from Mexico, and calls itself the Lone Star Republic, after its flag, until its admission to the Union in 1845.
1851
The London-to-Paris telegraph begins operation.
1860
South Carolina’s legislature calls a special convention to discuss secession from the Union.
1862
Lewis Carroll writes in his diary, “Began writing the fairy-tale of Alice–I hope to finish it by Christmas.”
1878
New Mexico Governor Lew Wallace offers amnesty to many participants of the Lincoln County War, but not to gunfighter Billy the Kid.
1897
The first metal dirigible is flown from Tempelhof Field in Berlin.
1907
Paul Corno achieves the first helicopter flight.
1914
The brassiere, invented by Caresse Crosby, is patented.
1927
New York’s Holland Tunnel officially opens for traffic.
1940
U.S. Supreme Court rules in Hansberry v. Lee that African Americans cannot be barred from white neighborhoods.
1941
A German U-boat, the U-81 torpedoes Great Britain’s premier aircraft carrier, the HMS Ark Royal. The ship sinks the next day.
1942
Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower flies to Algeria to conclude an agreement with French Admiral Jean Darlan..
1945
Charles de Gaulle is elected president of France.
1952
Harvard’s Paul Zoll becomes the first man to use electric shock to treat cardiac arrest.
1956
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously strikes down two Alabama laws requiring racial segregation on public buses.
1969
Anti-war protesters stage a symbolic “March Against Death” in Washington, DC.
1970
A powerful tropical cyclone strikes the Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), causing an estimated half-million deaths in a single night; the Bhola cyclone is regarded as the worst natural disaster of the 20th century.
1982
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated in Washington, DC.
1985
Some 23,000 people die when the Nevado del Ruiz erupts, melting a glacier and causing a massive mudslide that buries Armero, Columbia.
1989
Compact of Free Association: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau—places US troops wrested from Japanese control in WWII—become sovereign nations, associated states of the United States.
1989
Hans-Adam II becomes Prince of Liechtenstein (1989– ) upon the death of his father, Franz Joseph II.
2000
Articles of impeachment passed against Philippine President Joseph Estrada.
2001
The shrub signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to planned or actual terrorist acts against the US.

Non Sequitur

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Homeless Man Panhandles for Money, Buys Art Supplies, Begins Selling Paintings

Jon Masters is homeless. But that may end very soon.
In September, he begged for money by a road in Pensacola, Florida. He collected $40. With that, he purchased art supplies. He began painting landscapes, then selling them by the side of the road. Each one goes for about $25-40. You can find an online gallery of his work here.
Masters and his dog, Sheba, still live outdoors for now. But as Masters's fame and income rise, he's embracing new opportunities. USA Today (warning: auto-start video) reports:
On Tuesday, Daniel Dugan, organizer of the weekly Gulf Breeze Farmers Market, picked Masters up and drove him out to Gulf Breeze Community Center, where a covered booth awaited the artist. But first, with a little extra money in his pocket from a few sales, he went and purchased a new shirt and jeans. He has been wearing his previous outfit, splattered with paint, since his release.
"Don't I look fancy?" he asked with a smile, sitting under the covered booth tent at the market. "I'm hoity-toity now."
Dugan, who operates three farmers markets in Northwest Florida, said he hopes more homeless people follow Masters' lead.
"I saw the PNJ article and I was impressed and inspired and had the ability to offer him some space," he said. "That's what we want to do. If one person can inspire our homeless population, that is what we need. He's doing it right. He knocked on the door and it got opened." 
You can watch him at work in this video. He talks a lot like Bob Ross, saying things such as "There's no mistakes in art. All it is is just telling you that you'll have to do something a little different."

Bagpipes Played in Space for the First Time

Kjell Lindgren, an astronaut currently on the International Space Station, recently became the first person to play the bagpipes in space. He played the hymn "Amazing Grace" in memory of Victor Hurst, a scientist who worked closely with Lindgren during his astronaut training. Hurst recently died unexpectedly at the age of 48.
You can hear the performance in a video embedded at CNET.
Lindgren used bagpipes made by the Scottish firm McCallum Bagpipes to withstand the rigors of space travel. The BBC reports:
Kenny Macleod, who works at McCallum Bagpipes, told BBC Scotland the 42-year-old astronaut had got in touch two years ago to say he was going to the space station and wanted to play the pipes while he was there.
"He wondered if it was feasible to play bagpipes," he said.
"They're made of plastic - they're just easier to keep clean and to make sure they're not contaminated. They're also lighter."
In the video, Mr Lindgren is seen to give the pipes a punch before he starts playing. Mr Macleod said it was normal for pipers to massage the bag to get the air flowing, "but not quite as vigorously as that".
"The thing about bagpipes is that they're very difficult to play at high altitude because the air is that bit thinner. They're quite hard to blow so he's done well," he added.

World Curling Federation temporarily bans controversial new 'Frankenbrooms'

The World Curling Federation has banned controversial brooms at the 2015 Pacific-Asia Championships which began on Sunday in Kazakhstan. The WCF described the move as "an interim decision" while it develops an equipment policy to address recent brush head technology that could fundamentally change the sport.
Coarse material on the broom heads creates a sandpaper effect on the ice and with it, sweepers have been able to manipulate the rock's trajectory in ways they never could before. Some have dubbed the new equipment "Frankenbrooms." Fearing that throwing accuracy and athleticism would be diminished, the curlers said they want to protect "the integrity of the game" in refusing to use the brush heads.
The WCF says team participating in the Pacific-Asia Championship in Almaty can't use brooms that are "modified, custom-made or home-made" and "only sweeping equipment available for sale to the public at retail outlets will be permitted." On Friday, it issued a moratorium on the use of the brooms at that competition only, with the review continuing to determine if they’ll be permanently banned from the sport.
"Most fabric used in curling brush heads is produced with two different sides: one that displays a weave, and one that is embossed, sealed or patterned and may appear 'plasticized,"' the WCF said in a statement. "The difference can usually be easily determined with the naked eye or a low-power magnifying device. The 'fibre weave' in any brush head fabric which comes into contact with the ice must be visible to players and umpires."
There's a news video here.

Couple from Wales banned from London after shopping center sex act in front of their children

A pregnant woman who performed a sex act on her husband in a busy shopping center, as their two young children watched on, has been banned from London. Akeela Ali, 25, was filmed carrying out the act on her husband Fahad Bilal, 26, as their children aged three and five, ran around playing in Westfield shopping center in Shepherd's Bush, London. Ali and Bilal, both of Newport, south Wales, admitted outraging public decency on 23 July. The couple said they 'thought about stopping' when their children interrupted, but carried on, explaining later: 'It just happened'. CCTV footage captured Ali and Bilal on a sofa in front of the shopping mall lifts The family had traveled from Newport for a day of shopping. At Hammersmith magistrates court on Thursday they were banned from London for eight weeks after pleading guilty to outraging public decency.
Prosecutor Arlene De Silva said: "On the 23 July this year Miss Ali was at the Westfield shopping center along with her husband and also with their two children aged three and five. Just after 8pm they were sitting on a sofa in the lift lobby lounge area on the first floor facing three elevators. Mrs Ali sat beside her husband and was clearly engaging in oral sex. This went on for around 10 minutes. They were interrupted several times by the children. The incident was captured on CCTV. When she was interviewed on 22 October she said she had gone shopping with her children. She said she was pregnant and as a result her hormones were everywhere. She said they started kissing as their kids were running around playing. She said 'it just happened'.
"When their children interrupted she felt what they were doing was wrong but they carried on. She was aware that one of the children was sitting beside Mr Bilal for some time during the incident. She said she regretted the incident and was ashamed. Mr Bilal said it was a human mistake. It was not that busy at the time but he knew it was a public area." The couple, who represented themselves, had to be sentenced separately. District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe asked Ali what she wanted to say about the incident as she stood in the dock. Ali replied: "I'm just quite ashamed of what I did, I'm not happy with what happened. At the time I didn't realize what I was doing, I was pregnant. We were sitting together, we were tired and it just happened." Mrs Roscoe said: "You understand the seriousness of this is because you are in public, your children are there, other people's children are there.
"Fortunately I have been told no one in particular has seen it, but you are the adult and you should know better." Mrs Roscoe asked Bilal what he had to say about the incident. He said: "It was a big mistake and it was shameful." The judge said: "Mr Bilal, this was a public place with children around, your children, and you are the adult, you should know better. Fortunately it doesn't sound as though anyone has seen it. Mr Bilal I'm going to exclude you from coming within the M25 for eight weeks, except for the 11 and 12 of November, to attend your immigration hearing. If you breach that you will be arrested and brought back to court. She added: "Miss Ali I'm going to deal with you in the same way as your husband, you will have an exclusion order on the area within the M25 for eight weeks." The couple must each pay a £60 victim surcharge, and a £180 court charge.

Blind barber awarded $100,000 for wrongful dismissal

A legally blind barber who honed his craft cutting his siblings’ hair has been awarded $100,000 after a state agency found that he was illegally fired by a shop that didn’t want a sight-impaired scissorsmith on staff. “When it comes to hairstyling, I’m an artist and I take pride in what I do,” said Joel Nixon, a barber who has been cutting men’s hair for years. “When you’re in my chair, I don’t let you out of my chair until they’re satisfied. My vision does not compromise my ability to do my job.” Nixon, 29, has been diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a hereditary condition that affects his peripheral vision. He has trouble seeing at night, and has been declared legally blind by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind.
He was working for Tony’s Barber Shop in Norton, Massachusetts, in 2011, but a year later his boss, Tony Morales, discovered his malady, according to the decision by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. On March 3, 2012, Nixon was working at the shop’s South Easton location when he tripped over a customer’s legs. Later in the day, he tripped over a chair in the waiting room. “Morales told him to pack up his things and get his wife to take him home,” the MCAD hearing officer wrote. “(Nixon) understood that his employment was being terminated.” Things fell apart for Nixon after that, he said. He couldn’t find a job nearby, and his wife had a high-risk pregnancy that made it difficult for him to work far from home.
He was unemployed for three years, his condo went into foreclosure, and he was forced to apply for food stamps and went to charities for Christmas gifts, he said. Nixon also deals with the lingering possibility he may lose his sight forever. “I could wake up someday and be completely blind, but my goal is to have a nice home with a nice backyard for my son,” Nixon said, fighting back tears. “I’ve never been to Disneyland, and I want to take him. I want to take him before I lose my vision. I’m trying to do the best I can.” MCAD awarded Nixon $75,000 in lost wages and $25,000 for emotional distress in a decision made public on Friday. Morales, who did not appear at numerous hearings and parted ways with an attorney who was supposed to help him, said Nixon’s entire story is a lie. He said Nixon was an independent contractor, wasn’t able to carry his weight when he was with his shop and wasn’t a licensed barber.
“It’s a bunch of lies. It’s sad that people like Joel try to take advantage of their situation and create false accusations,” Morales said, adding that he would hire an attorney and appeal the decision. “All of this is false accusations.” Morales no longer owns the Norton shop, but still runs the South Easton business. An instructor who taught Nixon how to cut hair at the Massachusetts School of Barbering said he was happy to hear that his former pupil came away from the MCAD hearing victorious. “He was a nice kid,” said Chuck Russian, the school’s co-director. “We were a little concerned when he said he was legally blind, but he did the work, passed the course and passed the state board exam.” Nixon said he learned how to cut hair from his mother while growing up, using a set of clippers the family bought at Wal-Mart. He fell in love with the trade, “and it became my life’s calling.” Now, his clients ask for him by name. “I have a following,” he said. “My clients call me the ‘Blind Barber.’ ”

President Obama endorses the Equality Act

President Obama, via PixabayPresident Obama endorses the Equality Act
After a slight delay, the administration is now officially in support of full LGBT equality in housing and hiring.

Bold CEO Unafraid to Cut Money From Everywhere But His Own Paycheck

As CEO of Sprint, Marcelo Claure oversees more than 30,000 employees. He is not afraid to cut every spare dime of company spending (on them).The Wall Street Journal reports on the hard choices that Claure is making in his quest to cut the company’s spending by $2.5 billion. The employee layoffs, employee health care cuts, and employee wage freeze are just the start:
Among the first things to go: free water bottles and yogurt.
Mr. Claure, who took over as CEO in August 2014, started buying snacks earlier this year for employees at the company’s Overland Park, Kan., headquarters. The program was on pace to cost the company about $600,000 a year.
Marcelo Claure, the highest-paid telecom CEO in America, earned $22 million this year. He came on last year to replace Dan Hesse, who left with a $40 million severance package.
If you employees don’t stop eating so many SNACKS how can this company ever save any money?

‘Paramedics don’t even make $15 and they save lives’

Fast food worker Lakecha Jackson speaks to WJBK (screen grab)
Detroit Fox hack to fast food worker: ‘Paramedics don’t even make $15 and they save lives’

Robot Society

New gas and grass means customers can now simultaneously fill their tanks and buy marijuana

Medical marijuana users can now buy pot while filling up their gas tanks in Colorado Springs, Colorado. "Gas & Grass" is the first gas station to open in Colorado Springs that's adjacent to a Native Roots medical marijuana dispensary.
Colorado does not allow pot shops to sell non-marijuana products. So, the gas station and pot shop have distinct entrances. However, medical marijuana patients that shop at Native Roots will get discounts on the gasoline, similar to a grocery store loyalty program.
Patients who register their medical card with Native Roots will receive a free tank of gas, as well as a discount card with gas discounts of .15 per gallon for each subsequent visit, regardless of purchase.
Medical patients not registered with Native Roots will receive a discount gas card at the time of marijuana purchase. The gas discount is .05 for patients not registered with Native Roots. In addition, a purchase is required. For those not purchasing marijuana products, gas will be available at standard prices.

Man seen eating grass arrested after high-speed police chase

Shortly after 4.30pm on Sunday, police were called to investigate a man eating grass in the Otumoetai suburb of Tauranga, New Zealand. On arrival a man ran into water and disappeared into nearby bush. He then entered a house, taking alcohol and a family vehicle. Senior Sergeant Shannon Clifford, on hearing a female screaming, arrived to find the man taking the family's car.
The man drove the car at the Senior Sergeant, hitting him with an open door, and drove over a letterbox, narrowly avoiding a collision with a parked police vehicle. Shortly afterwards, another police patrol spotted the man driving and tried to stop him. He then fled at high speed and a tyre deflation device was deployed. The driver allegedly drove directly at the police officer on foot, who had to run to safety. The car continued over a roundabout, directly at a parked police patrol.
Fortunately the police driver managed to move the car to avoid being rammed. He continued, losing a tire while driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic. Police abandoned the pursuit due to extremely dangerous driving. Following information from the public, police arrived near Tauranga Golf Course, and found the vehicle abandoned. Cordons were then set up to contain the man. At 6.50pm, police caught the male trying to run through their cordon.
Senior Sergeant Clifford said: “It was excellent work by all of my staff to contain the male within cordons and keep the public safe. I am relieved that no members of the public or my staff were injured during the incident.” A 28-year-old Tauranga man is due to appear in the Tauranga District Court facing charges of disqualified driving, possession of an offensive weapon, aggravated assault on police, reckless driving, failing to stop for police, 2 x assault with a weapon, burglary and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle. The owner of the stolen car apparently snapped his Achilles during the incident.

Mystery boat appeared in middle of busy road before mysteriously disappearing again

A mystery boat was landlocked on Chief Peguis Trail in Winnipeg, Canada, for about an hour on Sunday afternoon.
The fiberglass boat, with motor attached, appeared in an eastbound turning lane at around 12:30pm.

“It was a pretty odd place to park a boat,” witness Russ Young said. “I thought it was weird that it was sitting perfectly straight. It was dead center in the middle of the lane.”
A police spokesman said they received complaints about the boat portaging on the prairie at around 12:30pm. A unit was dispatched but the boat had somehow motored away by 1:30pm. It’s presumed the boat slipped off a trailer but that and its removal remain a mystery.

Shoe

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Florida Lady Hides Xanax Up Butt ...

Pity it was Florida, not Texas. A Narcocorrido titled 'La Señora Con Xanax En Su Culo' would be so awesome.
Pro tip to potential criminal masterminds: If you're planning to go on a shoplifting spree, take the hidden Xanax tablets out of your butt first. Ginger Cooper, 28, was arrested Friday at a Walmart in Bradenton,...

Intoxicated gentleman arrested after using real gun to shoot at Civil War reenactors

A man from McIntosh County, Oklahoma, was arrested on Friday after he drunkenly fired a shotgun into a tent at a Civil War reenactment near Checotah.
Deputies arrested Gary Alen Lane after responding to a report of shots being fired reenactors at Battle of Honey Springs. Officers found Lane at his home near the battlefield.
Lane was intoxicated and holding a sawn-off shotgun when he refused to listen to deputies' commands. Lane ran, but deputies caught him and took him into custody after a short struggle. Deputies discovered that nine actors were inside the tent that Lane shot into. One of the actors was hit in the arm with a pellet, but he did not sustain any injuries.
Lane was arrested on complaints of reckless conduct with a firearm, assault and battery with a deadly weapon while under the influence of alcohol, malicious injury to property and resisting arrest. He is being held at the McIntosh County Criminal Justice Center without bond. The Battle of Honey Springs reenactment continued without further incident.

Federal agents bust up plot by Virginia white supremacists to shoot up black cults to start a race war

Charles Halderman, suspect in Virginia bombing plot -- (WTVR-screenshot)Federal agents bust up plot by Virginia white supremacists to shoot up black cults to start a race war

Eight-year-old Alabama boy charged with murder after 1-year-old girl is beaten to death

Mother of one-year-old Kelci charged with manslaughter for allegedly leaving the baby in the care of a group of children all younger than nine years old.

Funny Viral Facebook Posts

Humor can arise when something violates our ideas of identity and normalcy, while simultaneously seeming safe and playful.

Hot or Cold

Is there an evolutionary reason why we seem to prefer a nice hot meal to something cold? Why, yes, there is! And it has to do with the birth of fire, and the energy boost we got from cooking our food.

Scientists use supercomputer to model plasma turbulence, and solve a 50-year-old mystery

Scientists use supercomputer to model plasma turbulence, and solve a 50-year-old mystery
Scientists use supercomputer to model plasma turbulence, and solve a 50-year-old mystery
For more than 60 years, fusion scientists have tried to use “magnetic bottles” of various shapes and sizes to confine extremely hot plasmas, with the goal of producing practical fusion energy. But turbulence in the plasma has, so far, confounded...

Cape Town Clouds Are Not Flying Saucers

Much to the surprise of many, a host of alien spaceship-shaped clouds took center stage over Cape Town, South Africa earlier this week.

Tennessee to post photos of animal abusers online — just like sex offenders

Puppy- Shutterstock
Beginning Jan. 1 animal abusers in Tennessee can expect to become Internet famous when the state posts their photos online as part of an animal abuser registry.

No treatment available for new SARS-like virus that can jump directly from bats to humans

No treatment available for new SARS-like virus that can jump directly from bats to humansNo treatment available for new SARS-like virus that can jump directly from bats to humans
Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered a new bat SARS-like virus that can jump directly from its bat hosts to humans without mutation. However, researchers point out that if the SARS-like virus did jump, it is still unclear...

'Killer Algae' and Jellyfish

As human activity pollutes the oceans, invasive species are on the rise.

Early maternal loss has lifelong effects on chimpanzees

Early maternal loss has lifelong effects on chimpanzees
Early maternal loss has lifelong effects on chimpanzees
Wild-caught chimpanzees, who were orphaned and imported from Africa in their early infancy, exhibit an impaired social behavior also as adults. So far long-term effects of early traumatic experiences on social behavior were known only for humans and socially...

Animal News

Many fish look misshapen, but there's a method behind the size madness: avoiding fitting into a predator’s mouth.
Rampant wildfires in Indonesia are destroying many of the world's few remaining natural habitats for endangered orangutans.
Scientists say they've figured out at least 13 different vocalizations used by the animals to express various emotions.

Animal Pictures